over 2 years and no good mods ?

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Cardo

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whats goin on halflife2 been out what over 2 years now ? and there are no good mods out ,wtf
 
there r a hell lot..hidden source...gmod..smod and soo many others

you just dont know
 
I think it's harder to make mods on source. The models, textures and maps all have steeper requirements just to be up to par. Hammer never really feels stable with steam compared to the old hammer. There is always some bug that is waiting on a fix, and as soon as it does another one appears. It's hard to really master the program when it constantly changes.

Maybe it's just my imagination but I think alot of the talent from the half-life mod scene has been hired and effectively removed from the community. If you visit mapcore you can see the site has gone from a large mod developer user-base to a fairly professional group. Luckilly there should always be another generation ready to take their place in the mod scene.

Also it depends on what you condsider good. I think many of the mods currently released show a lot of promise but maybe aren't quite where they should be just yet. I think when Insurgency is released it will be like the new cs. Whether that's good or bad is up to you.
 
Alot of it has to do with hightened graphical requirements and expectations for what is "good", slows down your artists, especially mappers, and a more complex game and new stuff like physics slows down the programming process. Making a TC mod for DOOM was relatively easy for a single person or small group to do, but now, the same sort of mod for Source would require a 10-20 dedicated modders. It's a natural progression of the industry, and unfortunately games just take longer to construct now.

With all the fancyness of Eternal Silence's space combat, the RTS/FPS aspects of Empires and Iron Grip... The mod I most look forward to is Insurgency, which posts no such "innovation." In fact from what I know of it, the game will simply try for a more strategic and interactive playstyle variation on the CS-type shooter. To me, that sounds fun but more importantly, fun over a long period of time; it's not just a gimmick that you get over in a week.
 
Download Empires. Now that is a fun mod. I think beerdude would agree.
 
The problem is that so many mods believe they're going to get a job from their work and get to sell it via steam and live the good life yaddayaddayadda, so they end up working on their crap mod alot longer than supposed.
 
yeah the mods have been disappointing
the only shining lights have been Garrysmod which was revolutionary and the excellent singleplayer Minerva - both of which are one man projects

bigger teams have so far not delivered - insurgency is the only possible counterstrike-killer and they still have not had a release
Empires, Dystopia, Hidden and others are good but not great
i'm curious to know why in an era of more and better tools that the mod-scene for HL2 has been so disappointing - is it because people do it now to build a portfolio of work for a job rather than to finish a labour of love or maybe that concentrating on multiplayer mods for a singleplayer game was a mistake?
 
Don't forget zombiemaster. Almost out!
 
You want a good mod?
Make one yourself. You may then have an insight as to why it takes so long. If you're not up to that, STFU and GTFO my internet.
 
$kelet0r said:
yeah the mods have been disappointing
the only shining lights have been Garrysmod which was revolutionary and the excellent singleplayer Minerva - both of which are one man projects
Click to expand...

Without wishing to detract from either MINERVA or Gmod, they're not really mods in the classic sense. MINERVA uses pretty much entirely stock HL2 content and very little code. In that respect, it took significantly less time to create than a total conversion. Gmod is the opposite - it's a mod that consists almost entirely of code, again with very little custom content. Garry also opted for the much-vaunted (especially by Valve) release early, release often approach. A lot of mods are unwilling to do that - as a bare minimum, you need completed maps in order to release even an early version. Completed maps require props, textures etc. All of this drives up development time.

bigger teams have so far not delivered - insurgency is the only possible counterstrike-killer and they still have not had a release
Empires, Dystopia, Hidden and others are good but not great
i'm curious to know why in an era of more and better tools that the mod-scene for HL2 has been so disappointing - is it because people do it now to build a portfolio of work for a job rather than to finish a labour of love or maybe that concentrating on multiplayer mods for a singleplayer game was a mistake?
Click to expand...

It's a lot harder (or rather, more time-consuming) to create content for Source than it was for HL mods. Irrespective of how much the tools have increased and improved, the content itself requires a lot more work. A 1024x1024 texture by its very nature requires 16x more work than a 256x256 HL texture. Models have 10-20 times the level of detail that they had in HL.
The SDK itself is also more complex. Some mods are also waiting until they have "finished" before they release (which seems positively dim to me, but hey...)
 
Some mods are also waiting until they have "finished" before they release (which seems positively dim to me, but hey...)
Click to expand...
this would be my biggest issue with the mod scene right now but very few seem to be listening

on a slightly pedantic note which you can feel free to ignore :) Gmod and Minerva are only held back from classic mod status by the size of the team involved - which in both cases is just one. Both have achieved plaudits despite their limited resources and manpower by releasing often and using the resources they have available rather than wasting time creating new ones. You have to wonder how much better the mod scene for HL2 would be if the basic mod was created with the base game resourses with subsequent updates swapping out the placeholders with total conversion/custom content...
 
For me, its about innovation and gameplay. I wouldn't mind some crappy textures if it was fun, or original.
 
The HL2 modding scene is dead. All the good people has moved on to better things.
 
The only mods I am interested in have yet to release and think the main reason you dont see any major mp mods out yet is simply because modding for source compared to hl is a big step up. People want/expect alot more both graphically and in gameplay, each which takes more time from making just another shooter etc. 2 years isnt that long really, alot of people fail to understand just how much work it is making a good mod with lots of custom content. Sure mods could come out alot faster without as much custom models/textures, but is that what you really want/expect?
 
Sure mods could come out alot faster without as much custom models/textures, but is that what you really want/expect?
Click to expand...
Yes
gameplay over graphics afterall
create the gameplay and then spend the time making it pretty and slick, not the other way around
 
Honestly, you guys are forgetting Black widow's They Hunger: Lost Souls. It is looking great.

02.jpg
 
$kelet0r said:
Yes
gameplay over graphics afterall
create the gameplay and then spend the time making it pretty and slick, not the other way around
Click to expand...


Then go play a mod thats already out and dont complain it only has 1 or 2 maps and looks like crap. Oops, check initial post.
 
Cardo said:
whats goin on halflife2 been out what over 2 years now ? and there are no good mods out ,wtf
Click to expand...

This guy = Moron Or Uninformed Individual.
 
DjBourgeoisie said:
Then go play a mod thats already out and dont complain it only has 1 or 2 maps and looks like crap. Oops, check initial post.
Click to expand...

Qft...

Look at Dystopia as the perfect example, good game, solid stability etc. But it released with only a couple of maps and some combat issues.

It was downloaded by players, tried and tossed aside. Even though several updates have been done to the game, many many players (including myself) haven't gone back and replayed it.

With the glut of good solid video games being released weekly, peoples expectations are much higher. I wish I could get away with simply textured models and map textures for our mod, but we'd get people being instantly turned off by ugly media before they even try the game.
 
Zunni said:
Qft...

Look at Dystopia as the perfect example, good game, solid stability etc. But it released with only a couple of maps and some combat issues.

It was downloaded by players, tried and tossed aside. Even though several updates have been done to the game, many many players (including myself) haven't gone back and replayed it.

With the glut of good solid video games being released weekly, peoples expectations are much higher. I wish I could get away with simply textured models and map textures for our mod, but we'd get people being instantly turned off by ugly media before they even try the game.
Click to expand...

The reason behind why Dystopia "fail" was gamedesign flaws rather than releasing it too early.

However, I do agree that people are expecting a lot more visually from mods these days. If it doesn't look up to par with the best AAA games out there, it goes out the window. One thing that got me out of modding.
 
Finding talent is hard these days. Take insects-infestation for examples. its a total conversion and we currently have two members.

the team leader doing everything on the code side (which is fine, the guys a professional, 15+ years of it) and me, doing everything on the art side. maps, textures, models, skins, animations and putting the damn things in-game is all on me atm.

If we could find a talented player model(insect) animator who knew the source process well to finish off the last of the player animations needed, we would be VERY close to our first public alpha release.
 
Marco said:
Why did you make yourself so dependent upon ill-conceived expectations? In order to please a crowd consisting of bored and spoiled teenagers, so that you can bask in their silly adoration on message boards and gain a bit of half-assed fame as an amateur developer?

Screw it. Do it for the love of creating and building something and, most of all, do it for yourself. People don't know what they want until it's shown to them. Even then, sometimes they won't recognise innovation when it hits them straight in the face.
Click to expand...

It's hard to get people to help you out if you work with experimental game design. Most modders want safe-bets so they can be sure that it will be done and they will therefore not take as much risks. And let's face it, you don't do modding because it's "fun" spending most of your freetime slaving for free. It's fun to see it released and people playing it. You're after the ego-boost.

I've been moving over to indie game development since they are more welcome to change and "odd" ideas. You can share your work with others and they will give you good feedback on everything. It's a whole new world compared to modding. Now that puts fun in the developing part.
 
CrazyHarij said:
The problem is that so many mods believe they're going to get a job from their work and get to sell it via steam and live the good life yaddayaddayadda, so they end up working on their crap mod alot longer than supposed.
Click to expand...

I seriously hope not, because mod dev's should not develop a mod because they want to land a job at valve, they should do it because its their love & it comes strait from the goodness of their heart; if they ever think for one second their doing it so that one day they will land a job at some big corporation, then they should think again.

They shouldn't think their mod project as a "Job application." because that's just so wrong imo, I read that in moddb.com. ;)
 
Cardo said:
whats goin on halflife2 been out what over 2 years now ? and there are no good mods out ,wtf
Click to expand...

Don't know what planet you live on, but Half-life 2 came out November 16th 2004, on Earth.

Anyhow, a whole bunch of mods are just months from release. Insurgency, to name one, should be out anytime now.

And looks at Half-Life, it took a few years for any good mods to come out. Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat didn't come out till 2000 and 2001; yet Half-Life was released in 1998.
 
KaMaKaZi-BLiTz said:
I seriously hope not, because mod dev's should not develop a mod because they want to land a job at valve, they should do it because its their love & it comes strait from the goodness of their heart; if they ever think for one second their doing it so that one day they will land a job at some big corporation, then they should think again.

They shouldn't think their mod project as a "Job application." because that's just so wrong imo, I read that in moddb.com. ;)
Click to expand...

Ah, "The myth of modding" :)
 
Docm30 said:
Don't know what planet you live on, but Half-life 2 came out November 16th 2004, on Earth.

Anyhow, a whole bunch of mods are just months from release. Insurgency, to name one, should be out anytime now.

And looks at Half-Life, it took a few years for any good mods to come out. Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat didn't come out till 2000 and 2001; yet Half-Life was released in 1998.
Click to expand...

when I go to the insurgency site (http://www.insurgencymod.net/) it just has a big now hiring page, no newsposts, media, downloads etc... how am I going to know when its out?
 
they've been hacked so many times that there is nearly no point in them having a site at all :(
 
I map because I love games.

Which is why I want to get into the industry...

But that doesn't want to make me produce as many half-assed maps as possible to show off in a portfolio. I put love and care into them. I refine them until they are to my satisfaction.

Also, having a website is kind of setting yourself up for failure especially if you gain a large fanbase and have so many people hyped for the release of your mod only to tell them that it has to be "put on hold" or will never be finished.
 
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